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Dharma Quote of the WeekUsually the reason that we can’t experience transcendent bliss is because our consciousness is actually chained by the illusion called “I.” It is chained because this concept literally ties our consciousness to the prison of duality, the prison of concepts and ideas. What most people experience is that their consciousness is chained by that illusion. But now and then there are people who find the so-called spiritual path. This is another quite strange and sneaky way that ego can actually keep binding our consciousness once again to another form of prison, the prison of duality, the prison of concepts and ideas. Transcendent bliss comes from breaking every chain. Breaking all chains, losing every concept, every idea, sounds very frightening to the ego’s mind. But actually when we let go of every concept, we land on this infinite ground of eternal bliss, and that bliss is not some kind of religious or mystical experience, some altered state of consciousness. That bliss is not the result of doing something to our consciousness, rather it is the pure state of our consciousness.(p.74) –from The Magic of Awareness, by Anam Thubten, edited by Sharon Roe, published by Snow Lion Publications The Magic of Awareness • New at 3O% off! |
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Archive for February 2012
Dharma Quote from Snow Lion Publications
February 9, 2012Getting Past Fear
February 9, 2012
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The Joy of Quiet
February 9, 2012Gradually, you will return to yourself, having learned a new respect for your heart, and the joy that dwells far within slow time. — John O’Donohue
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Inspiration of the Day:
The future of travel, I’m reliably told, lies in “black-hole resorts”, which charge high prices precisely because you can’t get online in their rooms. Has it really come to this? We have more and more ways to communicate, as Thoreau noted, but less and less to say. Partly because we’re so busy communicating. And — as he might also have said — we’re rushing to meet so many deadlines that we hardly register that what we need most are lifelines. So what to do? The central paradox of the machines that have made our lives so much brighter, quicker, longer and healthier is that they cannot teach us how to make the best use of them; the information revolution came without an instruction manual. Celebrated author Pico Iyer explores the Joy of Quiet.
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Be The Change:
In the midst of activity, or otherwise, consciously practice some moments of silence.
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A Dying Boy’s Special Bond with a Rescue Dog
February 8, 2012The most important thing in this world is to learn to give out love, and let it come in. — Morrie Schwartz
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Good News of the Day:
Every moment is extra precious for 4-yr-old Lucas Hembree. Suffering from Sanfilippo syndrome, he isn’t expected to live past 15. As the disease started to take a toll on Lucas’ joints, his father Chester looked into getting a service dog to keep Lucas steady when he walked. A combination of prayer and persistence led Chester to Juno. “I had the feeling in my gut that I had to go see this dog,” said Chester. But Juno herself was in bad shape: “She was emaciated, and was days away from being euthanized,” said Chester. Right away, there was something instinctive about the relationship between Lucas and Juno. One day, Chester noticed Juno circling Lucas while he was in his wheelchair. “She was whining and nudging him with her nose,” Chester says. “I checked his oxygen levels and they were very low.” After giving him oxygen, Lucas returned to normal and Juno greeted him with licks and affection. The full, heart-melting story:
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Be The Change:
Today, approach the day with a resolve to give out love, and let it in.
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Kindness Daily: A Secret Handshake Puts It Right
February 7, 2012
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Before leaving my parents’ house my dad took me to one side and, with our secret handshake, he gave me some money. I had not said anything to him about my finances but I guess dad’s just know. When I got to the car, I saw the amount he gave me was three times what I had spent on the gas and the gift!
Money Can Buy Anything — Except Meaning
February 7, 2012If great truth does not enter into our relation to money, it cannot enter our lives. — Jacob Needleman
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Inspiration of the Day:
“Money helps you do what you want to do. And what you want to do is something that will bring your life meaning. It helps to accomplish those things. On the other hand, the struggle wakes you up. That’s what it’s really all about: waking up. The money question: If it serves to wake me up to what I want, what I wish for, what I’m willing to sacrifice for, what I’m not going to compromise for, then I feel alive. I feel meaningful. That brings life. I don’t think it’s naive to say you can’t really fail, going in that direction. You might lose the deal here or there, but something in you has been nourished that’s truly human.” Noted philosopher Jacob Needleman explores how we come to a greater understanding of ourselves by understanding the true meaning of money.
http://premiere.whatcounts.com/t?ctl=16A582C:C3009629A010612C310D2BA834B37397B4B847859706E37D&
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Be The Change:
Prof. Barry Schwartz shares an intriguing reflection on how a societal over-reliance on incentives can undermine virtues.
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Year of Dancing with Life – Week 18
February 7, 2012
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InnerNet Weekly: The Power of Here
February 7, 2012
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Wisdom traditions worldwide say there’s no greater blessing than to live the life of your soul, the source of your deepest personal fulfillment and of your greatest service to others. It’s what you were born for. It’s the locus of authentic personal power – not power over people and things, but rather the power of partnership with others, the power to cocreate life and to cooperate with an evolving universe.A Survivor’s Sunrise Ritual
February 6, 2012It is the function of art to renew our perception. What we are familiar with we cease to see. — Anais Nin
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Good News of the Day:
No two sunrises are ever the same. Debbie Wagner knows this better than almost anyone else. With earnest devotion, she has risen in the darkness more than 2,200 times so she could observe and paint the sunrise. She’s rarely missed a morning since December 2005; for Wagner, the daily ritual is sustaining. “As a brain-tumor survivor, I lost so many of the loves I had, like reading and writing and mathematics,” said Wagner. And increasingly, Wagner’s artwork is taking on personal significance for others as well. Three weeks ago, the family of Justin Tyler Berry reached out to Wagner: “My 24-year-old nephew was killed in a car accident December 12th, 2011 — the day of his last sunrise here with us,” Cox wrote. “I would like to purchase that day’s painting, if it is available, and also December 13th, 2011. Both unframed please.” A touching story of beauty and connection.
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Be The Change:
Renew your perception of beauty within the familiar — and share what you discover with someone today.
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A Guide to Finding Your Passion
February 5, 2012The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play. — Arnold Toynbee
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Tip of the Day:
“Following your passion can be a tough thing. But figuring out what that passion is can be even more elusive. I’m lucky — I’ve found my passion, and I’m living it. I can testify that it’s the most wonderful thing, to be able to make a living doing what you love. And so, in this little guide, I’d like to help you get started figuring out what you’d love doing. This will be the thing that will get you motivated to get out of bed in the morning, to cry out, ‘I’m alive! I’m feeling this, baby!’. This guide won’t be comprehensive, and it won’t find your passion for you. But it will help you in your journey to find it.” Leo Babauta shares his personal story about finding his passion, and shares ten tips that helped him get there.
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Be The Change:
YES! Magazine shares this article: “Need a Job? Create Your Own — 5 Entrepreneurs Who Said No to Corporate Jobs”
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Dalai Lama Foundation Study Circle Montreal 